Hurd Exit Hurts HP

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Here's 10 reasons why Mark Hurd's abrupt departure from HP on August 6 could spell trouble for the organization.

Although HP is enjoying success, much of that is due to departed CEO Mark Hurd's leadership. And with its plans for Palm, which the company acquired in spring 2010, still in their infancy, it's not unreasonable to question whether the company's next leader will have the same vision as Hurd.
Let's not forget that Mark Hurd was integral to the success of HP over the last five years. When Hurd took over from Carly Fiorina, HP was a shadow of its former self. Just about everything was going poorly for the company. Hurd worked hard to give the company a new vision. He also revamped its computing division to give it a better focus. He made HP an unbridled success: the world's top PC manufacturer, as well as a major player in the enterprise. Now that he's gone, stakeholders need to start hoping that someone else can maintain that same level of success.

Simply put, there are some major question marks at HP, and the longer these remain unresolved, the more it will hurt the tech company.

Hurd's value to HP was his ability to see the tech space for what it is and capitalize. The company made its chief financial officer, Cathie Lesjak, interim CEO. As a CFO, it's unlikely that Lesjak has the kind of understanding of the tech industry that Hurd had. The longer HP takes to find a replacement, the worse it will be for the PC maker.